- Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. -
And you thought chapter 4 was going to start off on a cheery note! *Commences evil laughter with appropriate lighting*.
Sorry, everyone; not entirely sure what came over me.
Hey congrats! That’s three chapters down. That puts us right at a quarter of the way through.
Let me start off by saying, chapter 4 is indeed a real downer. I know that’s nothing unexpected from this book, but I feel the need to preface it anyway.
I want to remind you why this book was written; these are real states and questions you can have as a disciple of Christ.
This book ensures you that you’re not the first person to have these thoughts, and yes, shows the path through them, even though it’s hard to see.
With that, let’s dig into our first verse.
First off, it seems clear to me that this verse is referring to the wickedness seen in the acts of those who occupy the seats of judgement and righteousness we observed at the end of chapter 3.
That idea is not a limitation necessarily, but it is the impetus.
One of my favorite parts about Ecclesiastes is how it constantly returns to the part it “forgot” in its arguments.
What do I mean? Well at the end of chapter 3, we learned to expect wickedness in both the courts and church.
Of course, they are corrupt because man is corrupt. What is the solution? God is the judge who will show us how low and filthy we are.
Case closed. Bad people in power meet God’s punishment. Move on, nothing to see here.
You can feel the hand at the back of the room, meekly rising and the shaky voice accompanying it. “What about the suffering of their victims?”
Solomon could’ve waived that all aside. “I’ve told you already, that God works things out in eternity. There’s no reason to even bring that up!”
He doesn’t pass over the timid question; he decides to give it a voice! He joins in with it, mourning over the fact that the oppressors use their power against the weak.
I’ve gone through some pretty horrific tragedies in my life; moments I wouldn’t wish on Vladimir Putin himself.
One of the worst things someone can tell me in those heartbreaking events is, “Don’t worry. Have faith! God is in control!”
How worthless is that sentiment when you are hurting? How can such “thin measly words” be appropriate during truly horrific experiences?
The people who tell you this, are naïve. They’ve never lived through something dire like you are going through, and it shows by how worthless their speech is.
And me? I am worse. The reality of the world is turning me into a lion, growling at all the weak sheep who dare tell me they understand.
What speaks to me most in these times? Well, it’s hard to put into words. It’s found somewhere between the Spirit and Being, and I only know it because I’ve seen humans possessed by it.
Perhaps it’s in their eyes, ones that say grief is not unknown to me. Neither is peace or joy.
They speak and say something akin to, “You’re in Hell, and I think God has you there to learn how to sing.”
Housekeeping: The podcast has finally caught up with the blog posts! Expect to get joint posts like this moving forward :)
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